1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an actuator.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been the development of actuators in the fields of, for example, industrial, medical, and personal robots and micromachines.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-050780 discloses an actuator including an electrolyte held between a pair of electrodes. Both electrodes are composed of a conductive polymer. An intermediate layer includes an ionic liquid in a polymer matrix.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-176428 discloses an actuator including an electrode that is composed of carbon nanotubes and a polymer serving as a binder.
Actuators of the related art have the following problems, so that the resulting displacement and durability are not sufficient.
That is, an electrode composed of a conductive polymer does not have sufficient conductivity. It is thus difficult to achieve large displacement.
In an electrode composed of carbon nanotubes and a polymer, if the concentration of the carbon nanotubes is increased in order to increase conductivity, the concentration of the polymer is reduced, thus reducing the adhesiveness between carbon nanotubes. So, in the case where a highly conductive electrode is formed, breakage, such as cracking, occurs when driving deformation is repeated, failing to achieve sufficient durability.